M is for Miscalculation
Jul. 31st, 2022 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stringertheoryTitle: M is for Miscalculation
Rating: PG
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Characters: Jack O’Neill, Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson, Teal’c
Word Count: 4403
Categories: gen
Spoilers: Set between “The Enemy Within” (1.3) and “Emancipation” (1.4); no spoilers.
Warnings: Story contains drinking, drugs, and nudity.
Summary: Written for the Off-Screen Missions Alphabet Soup. Prompt: “Emancipation: the referenced mission to P3X-595 where Sam ‘drank that stuff that made you take…’”
P3X-595 was a lovely little tree-covered planet populated by possibly the most amiable and unceremonious people Jack had ever encountered. The Dhareeji, as they called themselves, had welcomed SG-1 with open arms, delighted to have visitors and more than happy to share everything they had with them, if the steady stream of food brought the team’s way was any indication.
After being collected from the Gate—which was in a sheltered cove of trees, less a clearing and more a dome formed by the purposefully interlocked and pruned branches of the trees that surrounded it—SG-1 had been led to the edge of a large communal fire pit. The Dhareeji who’d brought them there had meandered away without any hint of urgency, leaving the team to stand around awkwardly for a few minutes, waiting for a second contact. They’d shared bemused glances, watching other locals wandering to and fro, before someone else finally approached them.
The man, named Embori, smiled widely and encouraged them to take a seat on any of the large, flat stones that surrounded the pit. He did the same, sitting with the languid demeanor that Jack had noted the other Dhareeji had. Everyone who walked past did so at a leisurely pace, wearing placid, contented expressions. At first, it made Jack uncomfortable. The only times he had ever seen so many people act in such a way was from either drugs or brainwashing, and neither was a good sign.
But as more Dhareeji joined them at the pit, and as the team talked with them further, it became clear that there was nothing underhand going on. The Dhareeji were just that happy. Naturally.
“So you have no large predators on your planet?” Daniel was asking one of the Dhareeji, a man named Gameel. “No animals that you have to fear?”
“No, none,” Gameel said with a smile. The Dhareeji smiled a lot. “We have all of the game we need to eat, but none of them are dangerous.”
“And your tribe is the only one on the planet; you have no enemies?”
Gameel frowned slightly, somehow managing to smile through it. “What are ‘enemies’?” he asked.
“Uh, an enemy is someone who is against you, who maybe takes things you need or threatens you with violence.”
Jack thought that was a tepid description at best, but it was good enough to be getting on with. Gameel nodded in understanding, then pointed at another Dhareeji sitting across the pit from them.
“Noranth is my enemy. He ate the last of the khulfi last night, though he knew I was saving it.”
Noranth, hearing Gameel’s accusation, looked over at him and—Jack was honestly surprised to see a grown man do it—stuck out his tongue. Gameel laughed loudly and shook his fist playfully in Noranth’s direction.
“Are you never visited by others who would harm you?” Teal’c asked.
He seemed as perplexed by P3X-595 as Jack was. They’d expected to find a people like the others they’d encountered so far, but the Dhareeji were, for lack of a better word, carefree.
“You are the first visitors we have had in many moons,” Gameel told him. “And why would anyone want to harm us?”
“So you don’t know about the Goa’uld?” Daniel seemed almost hopeful.
Gameel shook his head. “No, we do not.”
Jack shared a look with the rest of the team. None of them had expected to find a world that seemed to be completely unaware of the Goa’uld. Even Teal’c, who knew the state of the galaxy far better than the rest of them did, seemed amazed at the discovery. But it did explain, at least partially, why the Dhareeji were so happy: they had no reason not to be. From what Jack could see, they were living a pretty idyllic life.
A few minutes later, a woman named Briva appeared at the pit and took SG-1 on a tour of the village. It was larger than Jack had originally thought, and also much more spread out in the forest. That was another clear sign that the Dhareeji had nothing to fear; they didn’t feel the need to build their structures close together, for safety in numbers.
The village consisted of family homes that housed multiple generations and communal living spaces for gatherings and socialization. The structures were all fairly standard in design, nothing of particular note or value, though Jack found them charming in their simplicity. The village shared a handful of bath houses, as well, all situated near the large river that flowed at its edge. As they inspected them, Carter quizzed Briva about the plumbing systems, which delivered fresh water directly from the river without the use of pumps.
The last stops on their whirlwind tour were some of the many temples dotted around the village. After questioning Briva about them, Daniel told the team that the Dhareeji appeared to worship nature-based deities, and the temples were dedicated to one god each. Briva had saved her favorite—a temple dedicated to the goddess of rain, Marajah— for last, and Jack had to admit that the water features it housed were a nice touch.
Tour completed, Briva returned the team back to the pit. Before they could sit down again, though, she asked Carter if she’d like to see some of the female-only spaces.
“There are things men are not fit for,” Briva told Carter, matter-of-factly.
Jack noticed that the Dhareeji men around the pit simply nodded their heads gravely in agreement. It looked like this might be a “men are unworthy” situation and not a “women are lesser” situation, which was probably for the best.
“Sir?” Carter turned to him in question, seeking permission.
There was absolutely nothing Jack had seen, heard, or experienced on the planet so far that gave him any concerns, so he waved her off.
“Sure, Carter. Go ahead.”
She gave him a small smile, and he noticed that she also stepped her feet together before turning on her heel, almost like she was subconsciously moving toward attention after his dismissal. It amused him slightly; he was still getting to know—and understand—his second in command. He knew the same was true of her: she was still feeling him out, learning where he drew his lines. So far she hadn’t gotten anywhere near any of them. He wondered how long it would take before she did. Because he knew she eventually would.
Jack took a seat at the pit again, absently pondering SG-1’s team dynamics. Daniel was now asking about Dhareeji social hierarchy, no doubt prompted by the implication of there being female-only spaces in the community.
“So you have no leadership structure?” He seemed intrigued by the idea. “There is no one person, or small group of people, who make decisions for the community as a whole?”
“Why would we put that burden on one person?” asked a Dhareeji woman Jack hadn’t caught the name of.
“We are one,” another simply responded. “We carry each other.”
Gameel nodded. “When decisions need to be made for all of us, we make them together. That is the only way.”
Jack could tell that Daniel was fascinated by the Dhareeji social structure, but at moment Jack was more interested in their cuisine.
While they had been on their tour, various food and drink had made its way to the pit. Dishes filled mats that had been set down near each stone seat, and the Dhareeji were all eating as they talked. Jack eyed the offerings with interest. One of the best parts of travel—at least on Earth—was all the different kinds of food he got to experience. He hadn’t exactly had many opportunities to test the fare of the galaxy so far, but he thought this might be a good time to start. He doubted anything the Dhareeji had would be dangerous, not with their laid-back attitudes.
After a bit of deliberation, he went for something that looked like a dessert: a beignet-esque thing that would be a nice, safe option. It turned out to actually be savory, almost like a meat pie, but with a doughnut-like outside. Whatever it was made of, it was damn good. Jack studied the other dishes with the faintest bit of greed.
He had gone through two others—something fried that made him think of potato fritters, and a kind of fruit tart—and was debating his third when Daniel hesitantly called his name.
“Uh, Jack?”
“Yeah?” he asked, turning to him.
Daniel wasn’t looking at him, though. In fact, he was staring toward the dormant fire, though it was clear to Jack that Daniel wasn’t looking at it so much as he was not looking at something else. Then Daniel pointed and, eyes moving in the direction of the gesture, Jack discovered exactly why Daniel was averting his gaze.
Carter, completely naked, was chatting with Briva as they both nonchalantly strolled right past the fire pit.
Jack cursed internally and tore his gaze away. That was definitely more of his second in command than he was supposed to see. Ever.
He pushed aside what he shouldn’t have seen and tried to concentrate on what he could remember. Though he didn’t expect Carter was the exhibitionist type, her expression (once he had focused on her face) had been relaxed and open. There was no indication that she was under duress or that she had stripped for any other reason than she’d wanted to. A little voice in the back of his mind calmly pointed out that she’d still been wearing her dog tags, even if she’d taken off everything else, even her watch. For some reason that little detail was what convinced him that she was still herself, as much as a completely naked Carter on an alien planet could be. It was ingrained that you never took off your tags, so if that instinct was still active, it was a good sign.
Jack cleared his throat, his eyes darting around for someone to ask what the hell was going on. He spotted Gameel watching Carter and Briva with an almost bored expression, as if public nudity were commonplace. And maybe it was. Still, Jack felt aggrieved on Carter’s behalf—whatever was going, he didn’t think she meant to put herself on display—and he sharply called Gameel’s name to get his attention.
Gameel turned to him in question. “Yes, Colonel O’Neill?”
“Why would Captain Carter come back with Briva, but without her clothes?” he asked. His tone was bit more accusatory than he’d intended, but he was growing more worried the longer Carter lingered in the communal area in her birthday suit.
“I am not sure,” Gameel said. “Though we do not have any issues with nudity. It is perfectly natural.”
“Our culture is a bit different.” Daniel advised, giving Jack a warning look as he did so. “We don’t go around in public spaces without clothing,” he explained to Gameel. “So you can understand why we would be concerned that our teammate is doing just that.”
“Perhaps she had some gamburi,” someone suggested.
Gameel nodded. “Yes, that could be it.”
“What’s that?” Daniel asked.
Gameel glanced around him as if searching for something, before he plucked up a wooden cup and handed it over to Daniel. From the corner of his eye, Jack could see Carter and Briva finally disappearing from view.
“That is gamburi. It is a beverage that we drink often. It is very relaxing.”
Daniel tentatively sniffed the cup, and Jack knew it was alcoholic from Daniel’s reaction. Why the hell had Carter drank it?
“Is drinking gamburi something that’s done as part of female-only things?” Jack asked, the thought striking him that Carter might have imbibed, as it were, if she’d been asked to and she thought it was the polite or culturally appropriate thing to do.
“Yes,” answered one of the women sitting nearby. “It is part of many rituals and practices.”
So at least Jack had the answer as to why his second in command was currently intoxicated and naked. Daniel was looking down into the cup of gamburi with a curious expression, and Jack immediately reached over and pulled it out of his hand.
“Oh, no you don’t,” he said, waving a finger in Daniel’s direction. “No lightweights allowed. If this stuff could do that—” he vaguely gestured in the direction Carter and Briva had taken “—to Carter, you aren’t allowed to even sniff the fumes.”
“I wasn’t going to drink it…” Daniel mumbled in protested.
Still, Jack very deliberately took the cup of gamburi and set it down on the opposite side of him from Daniel. Given that Carter had kept up with him the one time he, she, and Daniel had drinks together, and the fact that Daniel was known to get drunk off of one beer, Jack wasn’t going to risk it. Having one inebriated team member to see after was more than enough for a mission. Speaking of which, he needed to make sure Carter was okay. Benign society or not, it didn’t feel right to leave her alone in her current state.
Which meant that one of them had to go after her. Maybe even get her back into her clothes. And that would probably have to be him.
“Should we not see to Captain Carter, O’Neill?”
Jack had momentarily forgotten that Teal’c was there. He turned to him with a sigh.
“Yeah, we should.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I was just gearing myself up to go deal with it.”
“What gear would you need for such a task?” Teal’c earnestly asked. “Would we need to retrieve it from the SGC?”
Jack blinked at him for a moment. He was pretty sure Teal’c didn’t make jokes, but he swore that sounded like one.
“What Jack meant is that he’s, uh, mentally and emotionally preparing himself to deal with the situation,” Daniel helpfully supplied.
Jack didn’t miss that Daniel had specified that he, Jack, would be the one doing the dealing with, and he shot him a look. Teal’c still seemed a bit confused by their reticence, though.
“Is your hesitancy because Captain Carter is currently not wearing any clothes, O’Neill?”
“Yeah. Yes. That’s exactly why, T.”
“It’s, um, awkward for us, Teal’c,” Daniel explained. “Like I told Gameel, our culture doesn’t allow for public nudity. It’s not completely taboo, but it isn’t acceptable in almost all situations. Even being naked in private is only considered appropriate in specific situations, and within a limited number of social relationships.” He threw a glance over his shoulder, to where Carter had last been visible. “And we know that Sam is probably going to be embarrassed once she realizes what happened, and that’s just going to make it even more uncomfortable.”
“I will attend to Captain Carter if you wish, O’Neill.”
Jack stared at him in surprise. Sending Teal’c into the fray, as it were, hadn’t even occurred to him. But he almost wondered if it would be easier on Carter if he did. Honestly, Jack felt that if Carter were given the choice for who to help her, he’d be last on that list. You didn’t exactly want your CO to deal with something like what was currently happening. He studied Teal’c for a moment.
“You sure?”
“I am not bothered by nakedness,” Teal’c matter-of-factly replied. “There are no taboos around it in Jaffa culture. A body is simply a body.”
Jack glanced at Daniel, who gave him a shrug. Yeah, Teal’c was probably the best option for Carter.
“Okay, Teal’c. Just see if you can keep her inside somewhere, and get someone to bring her clothes to you.”
Teal’c inclined his head in understanding, then rose and walked off in the direction Carter had disappeared.
Jack turned back to Gameel. “How long do the effects of this stuff last?”
Gameel shrugged. “It depends on how much is consumed. For a typical amount, only a few hours at most. Though certain people are affected more strongly; the longest response was nearly two days.”
Jack stared at him, stunned. “Two days.”
“That was a particularly strong brew, though,” Gameel advised. “Once we realized the potency, it was put aside for special ceremonies instead of for daily use.”
“Special ceremonies like the female-only ones Sam might have been partaking in?” Daniel asked, with a tone of growing dread.
Jack held his breath.
“Oh, no,” Gameel corrected. “That batch is only used for Seeing ceremonies, and those only occur on holy days, which this is not.”
“Well, at least there’s that,” Jack said in relief. “Don’t think I could handle two days here with a naked Carter, and we can’t take her back to the SGC until this stuff’s worn off.”
The story might get around the base within a day, but he wasn’t going to parade a drunk Carter—dressed or otherwise—through the halls of the SGC. He wasn’t that mean.
He sighed again and rubbed a hand over his face. He could count on one hand the number of missions SG-1 had been on, but he needed both and a few extra fingers to cover all of the crazy things that had happened to them on said missions. It wasn’t exactly an illustrious beginning.
He glared in Daniel’s direction.
“Start a list, Daniel. SG-1’s Rules for Off-World Travel: #1 - Don’t Drink the Native Booze.”
Daniel let out a huff of laughter. “Got it.”
Teal’c did manage to keep Carter indoors until she sobered up. Luckily, Briva had taken her back to Marajah’s temple, and Carter had been content to stay there, listening to the fountains gurgle and splash. Jack had caught sight of a young woman strolling past the pit not fifteen minutes after Teal’c had left it, carrying Carter’s clothes and gear and headed toward the temple.
It only took Carter a little over two hours to sober up, which meant that they didn’t have to stay past their expected return time. Otherwise, Jack would’ve had to dial home to let Hammond know they needed to stay longer, which would have turned the situation from a thing that happened into A Thing That Happened.
Even so, when Teal’c returned to the pit with a now-clothed Carter in tow, Jack wondered how big the story would get in the grubby hands of the base gossip mill. And, almost despite himself, he was wondering what else he could do to prevent that. He couldn’t suppress it entirely—no man was that strong—but maybe he could keep its proportions manageable. For Carter’s sake.
To his surprise, Carter didn’t avoid his gaze—or anyone else’s, for that matter— when she rejoined them. She looked vaguely embarrassed, but mostly perplexed, and Jack wondered whether she even remembered what had happened. What the hell was in that gamburi stuff?
He stepped a little bit away from the crowd and called to her.
“Carter?”
She looked around and, spotting him nearby, walked over. He could see she was frowning slightly, like she was puzzling over something. Probably the events of the past few hours.
“Sir?”
“How’re you feeling?” he asked her in a low voice.
“I—I’m fine, sir. Just a little dazed. And a lot confused.” She shook her head slightly, her eyes moving away from his for a moment as she blushed. “Teal’c told me what happened, but I—sir, I don’t know how it happened.”
“You got drunk, Carter.”
Her eyes flashed with annoyance, then, and Jack reassessed his measurement of her.
“I only had three swallows of the drink, sir. Briva offered it to me while we were part of a small gathering of the local women, and since everyone else was drinking it, I figured it was safe for me to participate.”
“And you didn’t want to be rude,” Jack added.
“No, sir.”
She sounded a little regretful, like she thought she might’ve done the wrong thing. But then her voice took on a firmer tone, and she met his gaze evenly.
“But I was also careful, sir. The locals were drinking the gamburi like it was just water, but I very specifically limited myself. Even though it didn’t taste that strong, I didn’t know what it was and I didn’t want to take any risks. So I only drank three times.”
“And then?”
“Sir, the next thing that’s clear to me was Teal’c helping me back into my clothes.”
She was flushing again, but not as darkly this time. Her gaze was distant, eyes unfocused somewhere over his left shoulder as she summoned up the memories.
“I can remember everything that happened in between—I didn’t black out or lose time or anything—but it feels like it was all a dream.” She shook her head, gaze clearly slightly. “Like, I remember all of it, but it doesn’t seem real.”
“Oh, it was very real.”
It took Carter a split second to pick up on his tone. Then her gaze snapped to his, eyes wide with shock and a bit of chagrin. But she quickly regained her composure to level a mild glare his way. And then she surprised him with a quip of her own.
“Yes, sir. It is.”
And Jack had had that coming, so he bit his tongue and bit back a smile as Daniel and Teal’c joined them.
“So I was talking with Gameel,” Daniel began, “and I think I know why the gamburi affected you the way it did, Sam.”
“Do tell,” Jack prompted.
“Based on what he told me, it doesn’t just contain alcohol. The base of the drink is fermented fruit, but they also add some kind of plant to it.”
“What kind of plant?” Carter warily asked.
“The way Gameel described it, I think it would be what we consider a drug, probably some kind of psychotropic.” Daniel glanced back over his shoulder at the fire pit, then looked back at Carter. “I think the Dhareeji might have a different biochemistry than us, Sam. Gameel said that they drink the gamburi every day, and while they’re definitely laid-back, they don’t seem to be under the influence of anything.”
Carter nodded thoughtfully. “All of the women I was with, including Briva, drank more of it than I did, but they didn’t seem to be affected at all. I mean, they seem the same now as they did when we first arrived.”
She lifted her chin to gesture to Briva, who was once again sitting by the pit, chatting with a few others. None of them, nor any of the other Dhareeji around, seemed like they were under the influence of drugs. At least not of anything heavy. Jack recalled how he had suspected drugs when the team had first arrived and he saw how idly happy the locals all were. He’d convinced himself otherwise at the time, but now it seemed he might have been right.
“Maybe they built up a tolerance,” he suggested.
“Possibly, sir,” Carter conceded.
“At any rate, I owe you an apology,” he told her.
Carter frowned at him. “Sir?”
“You did not get drunk, Carter. You were drugged.”
Carter’s eyes widened in surprise as she, too, came to the realization that that was what had actually happened. In a way, Jack was happy about the revelation. Not that he was happy one of his team members had been drugged against their will, but the fact that Carter’s behavior was the result of an unintentional drugging would play much better back on base than if it had just been because she out drank her limit. Someone overdoing it on the hooch, however accidentally, and getting publicly indecent would be the catalyst for all sorts of mockery from the military sect. Not to mention whatever reprimands Hammond might hand down. But Carter winding up naked because the natives had unknowingly drugged her? Well, there would still be jokes, but they’d be good-natured ones instead, with clear indications of sympathy and possibly even protectiveness.
“And I’ll make sure that’s the way we explain it in the report,” Daniel firmly stated, before continuing on in what Jack was coming to think of as his Presentation Voice. “You were simply participating in a cultural exchange, having been allowed to join in female-only rituals that none of the rest of us could. As part of that, you partook of a beverage that you thought was simply alcoholic but, unknowingly, was laced with psychotropics. The drugs led you to remove your clothing because you incorrectly perceived yourself as overheating.”
“What?” Carter asked, momentarily confused.
Daniel gave her a look, and Jack saw the understanding hit her.
“Right,” she said, slowly nodding her head with a thankful smile. “That’s exactly what happened.”
Jack looked to the last member of their team. “Teal’c?”
“Indeed. Captain Carter was experiencing the effects of an unintentional drugging. I saw to her during her recovery to ensure that she did not harm herself while you and Daniel Jackson continued to liaise with the Dhareeji to ascertain how long the effects would last and whether we needed to secure medical assistance from the SGC.” He paused, the barest hint—was that smugness?—of a smile crossing his face. “We did not.”
Jack nodded sharply and glanced at his watch.
“Good. Now that we’ve got the details straight, it’s just about time for us to head home. Daniel, let’s make our farewells to these lovely folks.”
The Dhareeji were sad to see them go—at least, as sad as they could manage to project, which wasn’t all that sad. Still, they were sincere in their sadness, and asked multiple times that SG-1 come visit again. It seemed they truly enjoyed having visitors and, looking around, Jack wondered whether it was just because of the novelty. There wasn’t much in the way of excitement happening on PX3-595, and with everyone drugged to the gills, he didn’t imagine much registered as exciting anyway.
Daniel made their excuses and not long after, he was dialing them up. As the Gate connected, Jack added “Second in command was drugged and got naked” to his growing list of Crazy Things That Happened On a Mission.
Rating: PG
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Characters: Jack O’Neill, Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson, Teal’c
Word Count: 4403
Categories: gen
Spoilers: Set between “The Enemy Within” (1.3) and “Emancipation” (1.4); no spoilers.
Warnings: Story contains drinking, drugs, and nudity.
Summary: Written for the Off-Screen Missions Alphabet Soup. Prompt: “Emancipation: the referenced mission to P3X-595 where Sam ‘drank that stuff that made you take…’”
P3X-595 was a lovely little tree-covered planet populated by possibly the most amiable and unceremonious people Jack had ever encountered. The Dhareeji, as they called themselves, had welcomed SG-1 with open arms, delighted to have visitors and more than happy to share everything they had with them, if the steady stream of food brought the team’s way was any indication.
After being collected from the Gate—which was in a sheltered cove of trees, less a clearing and more a dome formed by the purposefully interlocked and pruned branches of the trees that surrounded it—SG-1 had been led to the edge of a large communal fire pit. The Dhareeji who’d brought them there had meandered away without any hint of urgency, leaving the team to stand around awkwardly for a few minutes, waiting for a second contact. They’d shared bemused glances, watching other locals wandering to and fro, before someone else finally approached them.
The man, named Embori, smiled widely and encouraged them to take a seat on any of the large, flat stones that surrounded the pit. He did the same, sitting with the languid demeanor that Jack had noted the other Dhareeji had. Everyone who walked past did so at a leisurely pace, wearing placid, contented expressions. At first, it made Jack uncomfortable. The only times he had ever seen so many people act in such a way was from either drugs or brainwashing, and neither was a good sign.
But as more Dhareeji joined them at the pit, and as the team talked with them further, it became clear that there was nothing underhand going on. The Dhareeji were just that happy. Naturally.
“So you have no large predators on your planet?” Daniel was asking one of the Dhareeji, a man named Gameel. “No animals that you have to fear?”
“No, none,” Gameel said with a smile. The Dhareeji smiled a lot. “We have all of the game we need to eat, but none of them are dangerous.”
“And your tribe is the only one on the planet; you have no enemies?”
Gameel frowned slightly, somehow managing to smile through it. “What are ‘enemies’?” he asked.
“Uh, an enemy is someone who is against you, who maybe takes things you need or threatens you with violence.”
Jack thought that was a tepid description at best, but it was good enough to be getting on with. Gameel nodded in understanding, then pointed at another Dhareeji sitting across the pit from them.
“Noranth is my enemy. He ate the last of the khulfi last night, though he knew I was saving it.”
Noranth, hearing Gameel’s accusation, looked over at him and—Jack was honestly surprised to see a grown man do it—stuck out his tongue. Gameel laughed loudly and shook his fist playfully in Noranth’s direction.
“Are you never visited by others who would harm you?” Teal’c asked.
He seemed as perplexed by P3X-595 as Jack was. They’d expected to find a people like the others they’d encountered so far, but the Dhareeji were, for lack of a better word, carefree.
“You are the first visitors we have had in many moons,” Gameel told him. “And why would anyone want to harm us?”
“So you don’t know about the Goa’uld?” Daniel seemed almost hopeful.
Gameel shook his head. “No, we do not.”
Jack shared a look with the rest of the team. None of them had expected to find a world that seemed to be completely unaware of the Goa’uld. Even Teal’c, who knew the state of the galaxy far better than the rest of them did, seemed amazed at the discovery. But it did explain, at least partially, why the Dhareeji were so happy: they had no reason not to be. From what Jack could see, they were living a pretty idyllic life.
A few minutes later, a woman named Briva appeared at the pit and took SG-1 on a tour of the village. It was larger than Jack had originally thought, and also much more spread out in the forest. That was another clear sign that the Dhareeji had nothing to fear; they didn’t feel the need to build their structures close together, for safety in numbers.
The village consisted of family homes that housed multiple generations and communal living spaces for gatherings and socialization. The structures were all fairly standard in design, nothing of particular note or value, though Jack found them charming in their simplicity. The village shared a handful of bath houses, as well, all situated near the large river that flowed at its edge. As they inspected them, Carter quizzed Briva about the plumbing systems, which delivered fresh water directly from the river without the use of pumps.
The last stops on their whirlwind tour were some of the many temples dotted around the village. After questioning Briva about them, Daniel told the team that the Dhareeji appeared to worship nature-based deities, and the temples were dedicated to one god each. Briva had saved her favorite—a temple dedicated to the goddess of rain, Marajah— for last, and Jack had to admit that the water features it housed were a nice touch.
Tour completed, Briva returned the team back to the pit. Before they could sit down again, though, she asked Carter if she’d like to see some of the female-only spaces.
“There are things men are not fit for,” Briva told Carter, matter-of-factly.
Jack noticed that the Dhareeji men around the pit simply nodded their heads gravely in agreement. It looked like this might be a “men are unworthy” situation and not a “women are lesser” situation, which was probably for the best.
“Sir?” Carter turned to him in question, seeking permission.
There was absolutely nothing Jack had seen, heard, or experienced on the planet so far that gave him any concerns, so he waved her off.
“Sure, Carter. Go ahead.”
She gave him a small smile, and he noticed that she also stepped her feet together before turning on her heel, almost like she was subconsciously moving toward attention after his dismissal. It amused him slightly; he was still getting to know—and understand—his second in command. He knew the same was true of her: she was still feeling him out, learning where he drew his lines. So far she hadn’t gotten anywhere near any of them. He wondered how long it would take before she did. Because he knew she eventually would.
Jack took a seat at the pit again, absently pondering SG-1’s team dynamics. Daniel was now asking about Dhareeji social hierarchy, no doubt prompted by the implication of there being female-only spaces in the community.
“So you have no leadership structure?” He seemed intrigued by the idea. “There is no one person, or small group of people, who make decisions for the community as a whole?”
“Why would we put that burden on one person?” asked a Dhareeji woman Jack hadn’t caught the name of.
“We are one,” another simply responded. “We carry each other.”
Gameel nodded. “When decisions need to be made for all of us, we make them together. That is the only way.”
Jack could tell that Daniel was fascinated by the Dhareeji social structure, but at moment Jack was more interested in their cuisine.
While they had been on their tour, various food and drink had made its way to the pit. Dishes filled mats that had been set down near each stone seat, and the Dhareeji were all eating as they talked. Jack eyed the offerings with interest. One of the best parts of travel—at least on Earth—was all the different kinds of food he got to experience. He hadn’t exactly had many opportunities to test the fare of the galaxy so far, but he thought this might be a good time to start. He doubted anything the Dhareeji had would be dangerous, not with their laid-back attitudes.
After a bit of deliberation, he went for something that looked like a dessert: a beignet-esque thing that would be a nice, safe option. It turned out to actually be savory, almost like a meat pie, but with a doughnut-like outside. Whatever it was made of, it was damn good. Jack studied the other dishes with the faintest bit of greed.
He had gone through two others—something fried that made him think of potato fritters, and a kind of fruit tart—and was debating his third when Daniel hesitantly called his name.
“Uh, Jack?”
“Yeah?” he asked, turning to him.
Daniel wasn’t looking at him, though. In fact, he was staring toward the dormant fire, though it was clear to Jack that Daniel wasn’t looking at it so much as he was not looking at something else. Then Daniel pointed and, eyes moving in the direction of the gesture, Jack discovered exactly why Daniel was averting his gaze.
Carter, completely naked, was chatting with Briva as they both nonchalantly strolled right past the fire pit.
Jack cursed internally and tore his gaze away. That was definitely more of his second in command than he was supposed to see. Ever.
He pushed aside what he shouldn’t have seen and tried to concentrate on what he could remember. Though he didn’t expect Carter was the exhibitionist type, her expression (once he had focused on her face) had been relaxed and open. There was no indication that she was under duress or that she had stripped for any other reason than she’d wanted to. A little voice in the back of his mind calmly pointed out that she’d still been wearing her dog tags, even if she’d taken off everything else, even her watch. For some reason that little detail was what convinced him that she was still herself, as much as a completely naked Carter on an alien planet could be. It was ingrained that you never took off your tags, so if that instinct was still active, it was a good sign.
Jack cleared his throat, his eyes darting around for someone to ask what the hell was going on. He spotted Gameel watching Carter and Briva with an almost bored expression, as if public nudity were commonplace. And maybe it was. Still, Jack felt aggrieved on Carter’s behalf—whatever was going, he didn’t think she meant to put herself on display—and he sharply called Gameel’s name to get his attention.
Gameel turned to him in question. “Yes, Colonel O’Neill?”
“Why would Captain Carter come back with Briva, but without her clothes?” he asked. His tone was bit more accusatory than he’d intended, but he was growing more worried the longer Carter lingered in the communal area in her birthday suit.
“I am not sure,” Gameel said. “Though we do not have any issues with nudity. It is perfectly natural.”
“Our culture is a bit different.” Daniel advised, giving Jack a warning look as he did so. “We don’t go around in public spaces without clothing,” he explained to Gameel. “So you can understand why we would be concerned that our teammate is doing just that.”
“Perhaps she had some gamburi,” someone suggested.
Gameel nodded. “Yes, that could be it.”
“What’s that?” Daniel asked.
Gameel glanced around him as if searching for something, before he plucked up a wooden cup and handed it over to Daniel. From the corner of his eye, Jack could see Carter and Briva finally disappearing from view.
“That is gamburi. It is a beverage that we drink often. It is very relaxing.”
Daniel tentatively sniffed the cup, and Jack knew it was alcoholic from Daniel’s reaction. Why the hell had Carter drank it?
“Is drinking gamburi something that’s done as part of female-only things?” Jack asked, the thought striking him that Carter might have imbibed, as it were, if she’d been asked to and she thought it was the polite or culturally appropriate thing to do.
“Yes,” answered one of the women sitting nearby. “It is part of many rituals and practices.”
So at least Jack had the answer as to why his second in command was currently intoxicated and naked. Daniel was looking down into the cup of gamburi with a curious expression, and Jack immediately reached over and pulled it out of his hand.
“Oh, no you don’t,” he said, waving a finger in Daniel’s direction. “No lightweights allowed. If this stuff could do that—” he vaguely gestured in the direction Carter and Briva had taken “—to Carter, you aren’t allowed to even sniff the fumes.”
“I wasn’t going to drink it…” Daniel mumbled in protested.
Still, Jack very deliberately took the cup of gamburi and set it down on the opposite side of him from Daniel. Given that Carter had kept up with him the one time he, she, and Daniel had drinks together, and the fact that Daniel was known to get drunk off of one beer, Jack wasn’t going to risk it. Having one inebriated team member to see after was more than enough for a mission. Speaking of which, he needed to make sure Carter was okay. Benign society or not, it didn’t feel right to leave her alone in her current state.
Which meant that one of them had to go after her. Maybe even get her back into her clothes. And that would probably have to be him.
“Should we not see to Captain Carter, O’Neill?”
Jack had momentarily forgotten that Teal’c was there. He turned to him with a sigh.
“Yeah, we should.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I was just gearing myself up to go deal with it.”
“What gear would you need for such a task?” Teal’c earnestly asked. “Would we need to retrieve it from the SGC?”
Jack blinked at him for a moment. He was pretty sure Teal’c didn’t make jokes, but he swore that sounded like one.
“What Jack meant is that he’s, uh, mentally and emotionally preparing himself to deal with the situation,” Daniel helpfully supplied.
Jack didn’t miss that Daniel had specified that he, Jack, would be the one doing the dealing with, and he shot him a look. Teal’c still seemed a bit confused by their reticence, though.
“Is your hesitancy because Captain Carter is currently not wearing any clothes, O’Neill?”
“Yeah. Yes. That’s exactly why, T.”
“It’s, um, awkward for us, Teal’c,” Daniel explained. “Like I told Gameel, our culture doesn’t allow for public nudity. It’s not completely taboo, but it isn’t acceptable in almost all situations. Even being naked in private is only considered appropriate in specific situations, and within a limited number of social relationships.” He threw a glance over his shoulder, to where Carter had last been visible. “And we know that Sam is probably going to be embarrassed once she realizes what happened, and that’s just going to make it even more uncomfortable.”
“I will attend to Captain Carter if you wish, O’Neill.”
Jack stared at him in surprise. Sending Teal’c into the fray, as it were, hadn’t even occurred to him. But he almost wondered if it would be easier on Carter if he did. Honestly, Jack felt that if Carter were given the choice for who to help her, he’d be last on that list. You didn’t exactly want your CO to deal with something like what was currently happening. He studied Teal’c for a moment.
“You sure?”
“I am not bothered by nakedness,” Teal’c matter-of-factly replied. “There are no taboos around it in Jaffa culture. A body is simply a body.”
Jack glanced at Daniel, who gave him a shrug. Yeah, Teal’c was probably the best option for Carter.
“Okay, Teal’c. Just see if you can keep her inside somewhere, and get someone to bring her clothes to you.”
Teal’c inclined his head in understanding, then rose and walked off in the direction Carter had disappeared.
Jack turned back to Gameel. “How long do the effects of this stuff last?”
Gameel shrugged. “It depends on how much is consumed. For a typical amount, only a few hours at most. Though certain people are affected more strongly; the longest response was nearly two days.”
Jack stared at him, stunned. “Two days.”
“That was a particularly strong brew, though,” Gameel advised. “Once we realized the potency, it was put aside for special ceremonies instead of for daily use.”
“Special ceremonies like the female-only ones Sam might have been partaking in?” Daniel asked, with a tone of growing dread.
Jack held his breath.
“Oh, no,” Gameel corrected. “That batch is only used for Seeing ceremonies, and those only occur on holy days, which this is not.”
“Well, at least there’s that,” Jack said in relief. “Don’t think I could handle two days here with a naked Carter, and we can’t take her back to the SGC until this stuff’s worn off.”
The story might get around the base within a day, but he wasn’t going to parade a drunk Carter—dressed or otherwise—through the halls of the SGC. He wasn’t that mean.
He sighed again and rubbed a hand over his face. He could count on one hand the number of missions SG-1 had been on, but he needed both and a few extra fingers to cover all of the crazy things that had happened to them on said missions. It wasn’t exactly an illustrious beginning.
He glared in Daniel’s direction.
“Start a list, Daniel. SG-1’s Rules for Off-World Travel: #1 - Don’t Drink the Native Booze.”
Daniel let out a huff of laughter. “Got it.”
Teal’c did manage to keep Carter indoors until she sobered up. Luckily, Briva had taken her back to Marajah’s temple, and Carter had been content to stay there, listening to the fountains gurgle and splash. Jack had caught sight of a young woman strolling past the pit not fifteen minutes after Teal’c had left it, carrying Carter’s clothes and gear and headed toward the temple.
It only took Carter a little over two hours to sober up, which meant that they didn’t have to stay past their expected return time. Otherwise, Jack would’ve had to dial home to let Hammond know they needed to stay longer, which would have turned the situation from a thing that happened into A Thing That Happened.
Even so, when Teal’c returned to the pit with a now-clothed Carter in tow, Jack wondered how big the story would get in the grubby hands of the base gossip mill. And, almost despite himself, he was wondering what else he could do to prevent that. He couldn’t suppress it entirely—no man was that strong—but maybe he could keep its proportions manageable. For Carter’s sake.
To his surprise, Carter didn’t avoid his gaze—or anyone else’s, for that matter— when she rejoined them. She looked vaguely embarrassed, but mostly perplexed, and Jack wondered whether she even remembered what had happened. What the hell was in that gamburi stuff?
He stepped a little bit away from the crowd and called to her.
“Carter?”
She looked around and, spotting him nearby, walked over. He could see she was frowning slightly, like she was puzzling over something. Probably the events of the past few hours.
“Sir?”
“How’re you feeling?” he asked her in a low voice.
“I—I’m fine, sir. Just a little dazed. And a lot confused.” She shook her head slightly, her eyes moving away from his for a moment as she blushed. “Teal’c told me what happened, but I—sir, I don’t know how it happened.”
“You got drunk, Carter.”
Her eyes flashed with annoyance, then, and Jack reassessed his measurement of her.
“I only had three swallows of the drink, sir. Briva offered it to me while we were part of a small gathering of the local women, and since everyone else was drinking it, I figured it was safe for me to participate.”
“And you didn’t want to be rude,” Jack added.
“No, sir.”
She sounded a little regretful, like she thought she might’ve done the wrong thing. But then her voice took on a firmer tone, and she met his gaze evenly.
“But I was also careful, sir. The locals were drinking the gamburi like it was just water, but I very specifically limited myself. Even though it didn’t taste that strong, I didn’t know what it was and I didn’t want to take any risks. So I only drank three times.”
“And then?”
“Sir, the next thing that’s clear to me was Teal’c helping me back into my clothes.”
She was flushing again, but not as darkly this time. Her gaze was distant, eyes unfocused somewhere over his left shoulder as she summoned up the memories.
“I can remember everything that happened in between—I didn’t black out or lose time or anything—but it feels like it was all a dream.” She shook her head, gaze clearly slightly. “Like, I remember all of it, but it doesn’t seem real.”
“Oh, it was very real.”
It took Carter a split second to pick up on his tone. Then her gaze snapped to his, eyes wide with shock and a bit of chagrin. But she quickly regained her composure to level a mild glare his way. And then she surprised him with a quip of her own.
“Yes, sir. It is.”
And Jack had had that coming, so he bit his tongue and bit back a smile as Daniel and Teal’c joined them.
“So I was talking with Gameel,” Daniel began, “and I think I know why the gamburi affected you the way it did, Sam.”
“Do tell,” Jack prompted.
“Based on what he told me, it doesn’t just contain alcohol. The base of the drink is fermented fruit, but they also add some kind of plant to it.”
“What kind of plant?” Carter warily asked.
“The way Gameel described it, I think it would be what we consider a drug, probably some kind of psychotropic.” Daniel glanced back over his shoulder at the fire pit, then looked back at Carter. “I think the Dhareeji might have a different biochemistry than us, Sam. Gameel said that they drink the gamburi every day, and while they’re definitely laid-back, they don’t seem to be under the influence of anything.”
Carter nodded thoughtfully. “All of the women I was with, including Briva, drank more of it than I did, but they didn’t seem to be affected at all. I mean, they seem the same now as they did when we first arrived.”
She lifted her chin to gesture to Briva, who was once again sitting by the pit, chatting with a few others. None of them, nor any of the other Dhareeji around, seemed like they were under the influence of drugs. At least not of anything heavy. Jack recalled how he had suspected drugs when the team had first arrived and he saw how idly happy the locals all were. He’d convinced himself otherwise at the time, but now it seemed he might have been right.
“Maybe they built up a tolerance,” he suggested.
“Possibly, sir,” Carter conceded.
“At any rate, I owe you an apology,” he told her.
Carter frowned at him. “Sir?”
“You did not get drunk, Carter. You were drugged.”
Carter’s eyes widened in surprise as she, too, came to the realization that that was what had actually happened. In a way, Jack was happy about the revelation. Not that he was happy one of his team members had been drugged against their will, but the fact that Carter’s behavior was the result of an unintentional drugging would play much better back on base than if it had just been because she out drank her limit. Someone overdoing it on the hooch, however accidentally, and getting publicly indecent would be the catalyst for all sorts of mockery from the military sect. Not to mention whatever reprimands Hammond might hand down. But Carter winding up naked because the natives had unknowingly drugged her? Well, there would still be jokes, but they’d be good-natured ones instead, with clear indications of sympathy and possibly even protectiveness.
“And I’ll make sure that’s the way we explain it in the report,” Daniel firmly stated, before continuing on in what Jack was coming to think of as his Presentation Voice. “You were simply participating in a cultural exchange, having been allowed to join in female-only rituals that none of the rest of us could. As part of that, you partook of a beverage that you thought was simply alcoholic but, unknowingly, was laced with psychotropics. The drugs led you to remove your clothing because you incorrectly perceived yourself as overheating.”
“What?” Carter asked, momentarily confused.
Daniel gave her a look, and Jack saw the understanding hit her.
“Right,” she said, slowly nodding her head with a thankful smile. “That’s exactly what happened.”
Jack looked to the last member of their team. “Teal’c?”
“Indeed. Captain Carter was experiencing the effects of an unintentional drugging. I saw to her during her recovery to ensure that she did not harm herself while you and Daniel Jackson continued to liaise with the Dhareeji to ascertain how long the effects would last and whether we needed to secure medical assistance from the SGC.” He paused, the barest hint—was that smugness?—of a smile crossing his face. “We did not.”
Jack nodded sharply and glanced at his watch.
“Good. Now that we’ve got the details straight, it’s just about time for us to head home. Daniel, let’s make our farewells to these lovely folks.”
The Dhareeji were sad to see them go—at least, as sad as they could manage to project, which wasn’t all that sad. Still, they were sincere in their sadness, and asked multiple times that SG-1 come visit again. It seemed they truly enjoyed having visitors and, looking around, Jack wondered whether it was just because of the novelty. There wasn’t much in the way of excitement happening on PX3-595, and with everyone drugged to the gills, he didn’t imagine much registered as exciting anyway.
Daniel made their excuses and not long after, he was dialing them up. As the Gate connected, Jack added “Second in command was drugged and got naked” to his growing list of Crazy Things That Happened On a Mission.
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on 2022-07-31 05:52 pm (UTC)Love how they all effortlessly collaborate to put the best possible spin on things for Sam. :)
THANK YOU for hopefully restarting the Soup!
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on 2022-07-31 10:34 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2022-07-31 10:05 pm (UTC)I especially like how you convey Jack and Sam's carefulness around each other: their attention to posture and tone, and Jack's realization of how they need to understand what just happened:
“At any rate, I owe you an apology,” he told her.
Carter frowned at him. “Sir?”
“You did not get drunk, Carter. You were drugged.”
So if it's ever repeated that he said she was drunk, even accidentally by him, he can say it was his mistake that he corrected immediately.
no subject
on 2022-07-31 10:37 pm (UTC)